When First Lt. Brandon Harker returned home from his deployment to Afghanistan, he says he was speechless to find that his dog and best friend, a yellow lab named Oakley, had been given away by the person entrusted to watch him.

"It's been rough and not getting any easier," Harker told ABCNews.com. "I've owned him for over two years and we used to spend every day together. All my family lives on the East Coast."

Harker has only been back for two weeks and is now on a different mission, doing everything he can to track down his yellow lab. The Pennsylvania native says he's already called every veterinarian clinic and shelter in and around Tacoma, Wash. where he's stationed on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.